Buying a Discontinued GPS Advice

[zbuckeyeboyz]

I'm new to geocaching and decided to get a small handheld gps to use instead of my larger car gps. My budget is around $150, and after looking online I found that the older Garmin eTrex units (like the Vista and Venture models) have many of the features of the new eTrex units, but cost less. However, they are discontinued. Besides memory space, are there any disadvantages to buying discontinued models of any gps brand?

I'm looking for a gps that doesn't cost too much, but will be good for many years of hiking and geocaching.

 

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.

[+TeamPennyFinder]

With a lot of the older models one disadvantage is they connect with a PC using a serial port. Most newer PC's have done away with serial ports and use USB's instead. So if your PC does not have a serial port then you would have to buy a serial port card and install it, or a serial port to USB adaptor and a lot of those are garbage and do not work.

 

Also another thing is some older units are not waas, so less accuracy.

[+GeoCharmer81]

I use a Venture HC and, for the most part, love it. It has WAAS, so usually no problem with accuracy. The only cons, which may pose a problem for some cachers, are firstly that you cannot add a memory card, so it has no ability to add maps; no turn-by-turn; and it only holds 500 waypoints.

The Vista HCX seems to be a good unit-card can be added, turn-by-turn and 1000 waypoints.

Another well-loved unit is the MAP60CSX with all above and more features.

 

Ask your GeoFriends, keep watching the Garage Sale thread and that other auction site-- do the research so you get the best option for the money you want to spend. Possibly even a pawn shop may have something to suit your needs.

 

Also, the Garmin site has a comparison chart for its' units.

 

Good luck...

[diggingest_dogg616]

I have a Garmin eTrex Legend. I'm not sure how similar it is to the Legend H (they sure do look similar!) but mine had a 9-pin serial. I got a converter to make it into a USB and it works fine. Took me a minute to figure out how to get it to work, but I figured it out all by myself and it works fantastic. I think if you get a good converter cord, then you're set.

 

I think if you're willing to either use paper, have a smart phone, have the converter, or are willing to enter everything manually, then no, there isn't anything wrong with buying a discontinued unit. Mine isn't fancy, has no maps, only has major roads, doesn't have a memory card, but I love it.

 

If you're good with old school, then go for it

[+Huntleigh]

I'm new to geocaching and decided to get a small handheld gps to use instead of my larger car gps. My budget is around $150, and after looking online I found that the older Garmin eTrex units (like the Vista and Venture models) have many of the features of the new eTrex units, but cost less. However, they are discontinued. Besides memory space, are there any disadvantages to buying discontinued models of any gps brand?

I'm looking for a gps that doesn't cost too much, but will be good for many years of hiking and geocaching.

 

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.

 

You should be able to get a new Venture HC for $150 rather than the discontinued Venture model. The HC has High sensitivity and Colour. It comes with a USB cable.

 

While it doesn't have a port for a memory card, it does have the ability to load maps albeit limited in size.

 

One of the good things about Garmin GPS's is that there is a lot of open source (free) maps available. Here's a photo of my Venture HC. The map showing on the screen is an overlay of a street map and a topo map. With the high data requirements for a topo map you can't cram too much into the Venture so if I'm heading out of town I need to be judicial with what I load into the GPS.

 

[+ngrrfan]

 

You should be able to get a new Venture HC for $150 rather than the discontinued Venture model. The HC has High sensitivity and Colour. It comes with a USB cable.

They're down around $100 now on Amazon.

[+GrateBear]

You should be able to get a new unit for under your budget. The Explorist GC is selling for $136 w/free shipping on Amazon.com. Basically the same price at other web sites.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I'm new to geocaching and decided to get a small handheld gps to use instead of my larger car gps. My budget is around $150, and after looking online I found that the older Garmin eTrex units (like the Vista and Venture models) have many of the features of the new eTrex units, but cost less. However, they are discontinued. Besides memory space, are there any disadvantages to buying discontinued models of any gps brand?

I'm looking for a gps that doesn't cost too much, but will be good for many years of hiking and geocaching.

 

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.

With a budget of $150.00 I would buy a new GPS, you will have a waranty, you have more current version of the software, tou will have a better reciever. Garmin and Magellan both have good units for new geocachers. there are lots of features an older out of date GPS, those features are not going to make it any easier to find a cache. I have owned and used many GPS's over the years and when it comes right down to it most of those extra features I have had very little use for.

[zbuckeyeboyz]

I'm new to geocaching and decided to get a small handheld gps to use instead of my larger car gps. My budget is around $150, and after looking online I found that the older Garmin eTrex units (like the Vista and Venture models) have many of the features of the new eTrex units, but cost less. However, they are discontinued. Besides memory space, are there any disadvantages to buying discontinued models of any gps brand?

I'm looking for a gps that doesn't cost too much, but will be good for many years of hiking and geocaching.

 

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.

With a budget of $150.00 I would buy a new GPS, you will have a waranty, you have more current version of the software, tou will have a better reciever. Garmin and Magellan both have good units for new geocachers. there are lots of features an older out of date GPS, those features are not going to make it any easier to find a cache. I have owned and used many GPS's over the years and when it comes right down to it most of those extra features I have had very little use for.

I was thinking the same thing, some of the extra features I could live without, I'll just have to decide when its time to delete old waypoints or cache markers. I'll look on the garage sale and eBay to see if any good deals are around, or just head out to the store and see what they are actually like there. Would there be any problem with things like Garmin stopping satellite reception for its older GPS units in the future? Also, when a GPS says it has internal memory (like the Venture HC does) is that memory used to load maps, instead of using a data card? Thanks for putting up with all the questions, you all have been great help.

Edited January 3, 2012 by zbuckeyeboyz

[+Huntleigh]

 

I was thinking the same thing, some of the extra features I could live without, I'll just have to decide when its time to delete old waypoints or cache markers. I'll look on the garage sale and eBay to see if any good deals are around, or just head out to the store and see what they are actually like there. Would there be any problem with things like Garmin stopping satellite reception for its older GPS units in the future? Also, when a GPS says it has internal memory (like the Venture HC does) is that memory used to load maps, instead of using a data card? Thanks for putting up with all the questions, you all have been great help.

 

Garmin don't own the satellites, the Pentagon does and if they switch the public reception off then there is probably something more to worry about than not being able to find tuppleware in the bush.

 

The Venture HC has 24Mb of internal memory which is extra to the 500 waypoints that can be stored. (A Geocache is just a waypoint with a treasure chest icon). That 24 megs is for loading the maps.

[zbuckeyeboyz]

 

I was thinking the same thing, some of the extra features I could live without, I'll just have to decide when its time to delete old waypoints or cache markers. I'll look on the garage sale and eBay to see if any good deals are around, or just head out to the store and see what they are actually like there. Would there be any problem with things like Garmin stopping satellite reception for its older GPS units in the future? Also, when a GPS says it has internal memory (like the Venture HC does) is that memory used to load maps, instead of using a data card? Thanks for putting up with all the questions, you all have been great help.

 

Garmin don't own the satellites, the Pentagon does and if they switch the public reception off then there is probably something more to worry about than not being able to find tuppleware in the bush.

 

The Venture HC has 24Mb of internal memory which is extra to the 500 waypoints that can be stored. (A Geocache is just a waypoint with a treasure chest icon). That 24 megs is for loading the maps.

Haha very true. Good to know, thanks for the tip. I was about to snag a Garmin Dakota 20 for $120 on eBay, but then someone had to raise the price. So close!

[+NeverSummer]

New is good, but there are many, many geocachers who started with a 1st or 2nd Gen eTrex "Yellow"--without WAAS(!)--and still use them successfully.

 

If you're looking for a start, any GPS can work. As you get into the game more and more, you'll learn what features you want/need and can upgrade accordingly.

 

Good luck! GPS shopping should be fun, so be sure to make it so!

[+sholomar]

I bought a used droid 2 on cowboom for 60 bucks, which is ironically how I discovered this site and geocaching in the first place. I now have c:geo installed with offline maps of the states I plan to be in as well. It's quite accurate, gets right down to within a meter on some, a few meters on others. I suppose it depends on the coordinates given to it.

 

I didn't buy the droid 2 for geocaching, it just happened that way. It's also a phone, game emulator, among other things.

[+BigAl437]

I have the Garmin Etrex HCX and I love it. It has a memory card slot and I can have 1000 waypoints. It has worked great for me for the three years I have owned it. The only thing I don't like about it is that in the note section you only have 30 character limit. I cannot get a lot of the hints put on it, but then I don't always need them anyway. Hope you find a good one.

[+briansnat]

You can get a brand new Garmin eTrex 10 for under $120. No need to buy an obsolete unit to fit your budget.

[zbuckeyeboyz]

Purchased a new Garmin eTrex Vista HCX from REI for $125. Learned a lot while researching all the different choices out there and from help in the forums. I'm happy with the one I got, and am looking forward to many years of hiking and geocaching! Now if I can just figure out how to work this thing...

[+msrubble]

Purchased a new Garmin eTrex Vista HCX from REI for $125.

 

That's a steal.

 

When it came out, not so long ago, it was the top of the line for eTrex units. I think you will like it.